Do y'all use on camera flash? I've always preferred off camera, but most others i see tend to be using it on camera. One of the reasons i got to using full manual was a set of cheap radio triggers :-)

I use on camera flash, yes. I do use a Stofen diffuser that I find excellence, and bounce the flash off the roof (Watching out where I can for colour cast if the roof is any other colour than white!).

I did pick up a pair of Pixel's King Radio triggers, or at least I think that's what they are called.. feel free to correct me. But for most of my work, I don't bother with them. If there is a particular shot that I am after, then sure, I will set up the flash wherever... usually on manual, and use the Av for flash, and Tv for ambient, but this is only really if I'm trying to get something for a DJ or something.

My normal work really only consists of being paid to mash the shutter button as many times as possible in a club, and my employers probably don't know the difference from an SLR to a Bridging camera!

shadowsatnight

What's the decor like in the places you shoot? My usual haunts have black wall hangings, with UV reactive designs painted on them and I've found them to be pretty variable in terms of the bounce i can get.

Happily, i can do more or less what i like with the night club photography, as i got in to it as something to stop me dancing for 8 hours straight :-)

However there might be also some exceptions like this one:1/5 sec at f/5.6, ISO 1250 (40D) @ 40 mm of 24-70L

P.S My website is not ready at all

Hi there Diko,

I'm really loving this picture. You've done really well there. Please can you post when your website is up and running.... I'd love to have a look. Thanks for the useful info. At the minutes, I am shooting a little faster than that, around 1/30 of a second, but with the 5D3 I'm running the ISO up around 5000 so this probably makes up the stop difference.

How are you guys keeping from getting camera shake or blur in such low shutter speeds?

Using a flash will do it for you. As I remember having a flash is like having dual exposure on your camera. Your flash meter is independent from the default metering of your camera. That's why if you really want to expose properly your background, you meter first for your background then let the flash meter for your foreground.

There's a good experiment on this. Try to meter with your camera, then use flash. While pressing the shutter, gently nudge your camera clockwise or counterclockwise. You'll see that your background is blurred but your foreground (subject) is still on focus.

Normally is club environment,my standard setting is shuttle speed 1/80,F/2.8 and ISO 1600.In group picture I will increase my aperture to F/5.6 and ISO 3200 .These setting works for me most of the time with 5D mark III + Canon 24-70 F/2.8 + 580EXII.

Sometimes,I turn off the flash and bump the iso 12800 if I find interesting ambient light

I had an opportunity to put some of these suggestions into practice. And struggled a bit on getting good consistent results. Maybe someone can tell me what I did wrong.

5D3 with 50mm 1.4 on Full manual at f/4 and 1/60th shutter. 600ex flash on ETTL with Stofen diffuser pointed at 45degrees. I also had +2/3 FEC dialed in. ISO 400The ambient light was pretty dim. The trouble I was having was with the exposure. It seemed that the flash was getting inconsistent results. Some seemed like the flash was way too powerful and at others it was low.

when I bounce flash or use my home-grown diffuser, my flash is more accurate if I flip the built in diffuer over the flash's frensel lens first. Dunno why. Prob just my stupid sigma. I dont like that flash lol

I had an opportunity to put some of these suggestions into practice. And struggled a bit on getting good consistent results. Maybe someone can tell me what I did wrong.

5D3 with 50mm 1.4 on Full manual at f/4 and 1/60th shutter. 600ex flash on ETTL with Stofen diffuser pointed at 45degrees. I also had +2/3 FEC dialed in. ISO 400The ambient light was pretty dim. The trouble I was having was with the exposure. It seemed that the flash was getting inconsistent results. Some seemed like the flash was way too powerful and at others it was low.

Any suggestions?

There are a couple of things that jump out here, but to best analyse, is there any chance of posting a picture that you're not too happy with, for us to rip apart.... I mean critique! One of the best way to find out what it is that isn't working, is just to start changing setting, and find out what effect that particular attribute has on the picture.F/4 and 1/60 sounds like not a lot of light coming in alreading, on top of that, if you are running ISO 400, you are really working your flash to produce enough light. I'm guessing here without seeing examples that either they are correctly exposed, or underexpose. (None overexpose).This will be because your flash is pushing so hard, you are running out of power on some of the darker shots. I might be wrong, please anyone jump in an correct me.

I don't often do club-style photography, but recently I covered an afterparty at a pretty cool lounge here in Boston - I also use a 5D3, and my first move was setting ISO to 3200, which stayed relatively static all evening (some bumps and pulls here and there). I had my 580EXII mounted on-camera with a Lumiquest ProMax diffuser (my first time using it).Lenses were either 50mm f/1.4 or 70-200 f/2.8L IS II for these shots. I prefer to shoot the 50 near 1.6 or 2.0, and usually opt for more candid and artistic shots than trying to pose everyone and get them all in focus,

Here are two shots with the 50 @ f/1.8, shutter speed 1/160-200, ISO 3200 with FEC at probably -1 (although i had the diffuser on which further lowers the perceived output)

The bottom shot is with the 70-200, at f/2.8 and shutter speed 1/50, ISO 3200

If you're shooting at f/4 you probably want to lower your shutter speed further. I'd say 1/25 or 1/30. Also try setting the flash to fire at second-curtain. Run through a range of FEC settings until you find something that gives a good balance of foreground and ambient light - often i find when reviewing images that the whole image, although it looks balanced, seems sort of dim and generally underexposed - for that you might try bumping up the ISO a notch if you notice it during the event. If it's too late, Lightroom works wonders